Outdoor grill

ABSTRACT

A grill has horizontal shelves attached to its sidewalls for holding charcoal vertically along the sidewall in different compartments. Compartments are selected for cooking according to the amount of heat required and the size and configuration of the food. A mesh framework with screens attached hold the coals in position. Cooking progress is viewed through a window and a transparent dome cover. The positioning of the coals relative to the food allows cooking from all sides speed cooking. Cooking racks of various shapes accommodate all foods.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to outdoor grills, and, moreparticularly to a grill having a cooking rack positioned relative to thefire box for fast cooking of the food.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is desirable to use a grill to cook food on certain occasions. One ofthe problems with a grill is that the cooking process is a slow process.To speed the cooking process, a higher cooking temperature can be used,but using a higher temperature increases the likelihood that the foodwill burn. It is therefore desirable to have a grill that can speed thecooking process without danger of burning the food.

Conventional outdoor grills have a cooking rack suspended over afirebox. When food is placed on the rack for cooking, one side of thefood is cooked and the food turned to cook the other side. This processensures thorough cooking but is not well suited for someone in a hurry.Some grills have adjustable racks wherein the distance between the fireand rack is variable to cook food at a faster or slower pace, but onlyone side of the food cooks at a time. Accordingly, it will beappreciated that it would be highly desirable to have a grill that cooksboth sides of the food simultaneously and thereby reduce cooking time.

To reduce cooking time, some grills have a covering lid to trap heatsimilar to a household oven. Unfortunately, heat escapes slowing cookingtime when the lid is opened or removed to observe cooking progress. Itis desirable to have a grill in which cooking progress can be observedwithout removing the covering lid thereby retaining heat and reducingcooking time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of theproblems set forth above. Briefly summarized, according to one aspect ofthe invention, a grill for outdoor use speeds cooking time by heatingthe food from above, below and the sides instead of from below alone.The heat source is positioned along the bottom of the grill and alongthe sidewalls so that the heat penetrates the food from all sides givingthe minimum cooking time possible. The cooking racks are speciallyshaped to hold the food at a position so that it can be heated from twosides at once. The grill uses a glass cover so that the cooking progressmay be viewed without disturbing the heat, therefore yielding a fastercooking time.

According to another aspect of the invention, a grill has a door like aconventional oven but speeds cooking by heating food from above andbelow. Heating elements along the rear of the oven also speed cooking.By having top and bottom heating elements, the grill can cook twodifferent foods simultaneous at different temperatures so that acomplete meal can be prepared at one time.

These and other aspects, objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be more clearly understood and appreciated from a reviewof the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments andappended claims, and by reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view of a preferred embodiment of anoutdoor grill illustrating the relationship between the charcoal usedfor heating and the rack for supporting the food to be cooked accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic sectional view similar to FIG. 1 butillustrating another embodiment of a grill using gas for heating.

FIG. 3 is another embodiment of a gas grill illustrating a differentconfiguration of gas burners and cooking rack.

FIG. 4 is a simplified diagram of the grill of FIG. 3 with the cookingrack rotated about 90°.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic sectional view of a gas grill with a door thatopens to provide access to the cooking rack and equipped with a lightingassembly.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the grill of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a gas grill similar to FIG. 5 but illustrating a differentconfiguration of the gas burners.

FIG. 8 is a front view of the grill of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the lighting assembly for the door handles ofthe grills.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, an outdoor grill 10 has a housing 12 supported on aplurality of legs 14. The legs 14 are preferably attached to the bottom16 of the housing 12 but may be attached along the lower portion of thehousing sidewalls. The legs 14 may be permanently attached to the bottom16 or may be removably attached to save space when storing ortransporting the grill. Legs 14 may be adjustable to vary the height ofthe grill for the convenience of the user. A left handle 18 is attachedto a left sidewall 20 of the housing 12 while a right handle 22 isattached to the right sidewall 24 of the housing 12. The handles arepreferably constructed of a heat insulated material or may be of metalwith a wooden hand hold as is common in the art.

An annular rim 26 is formed on the inside of the sidewalls 20, 24 nearthe top of the grill for supporting a cover 28 that is preferablyconstructed of glass or other transparent material so that the interiorof the housing can be viewed with the cover 28 in place. Windows 29below the annular rim 26 in the sidewalls may also be used for viewingcooking progress. One of the windows 29 may be hinged to function as adoor to aid loading fuel and food. A chimney 30 is attached to the cover28 about an opening in the cover to vent exhaust gases from the housingduring cooking. Chimney 30 also provides a convenient location forpositioning a light assembly 32 which is used to illuminate the interiorof the grill through the transparent cover 28. Cooking progress isviewed through the cover 28 or window 29 without removing cover 28.

Inside the housing, the sidewalls are preferably lined with aninsulating material 34 which helps keep heat inside the housing andwhich helps keep the outside of the housing relatively cool. Heat isprovided by charcoal which is contained in a structure in the housingthat contains a plurality of shelves 36 that extend horizontally fromthe sidewalls to the interior portion of the housing to support thecharcoal so that the charcoal can be stacked along the sidewalls andbottom of the housing to provide heat from all directions. The shelves36 are oriented horizontally to divide the charcoal into verticalsections so that one or more sections can be used at any given timedepending upon the amount of food to be cooked. The shelves have centralopenings 35 which allow charcoal introduced from the top to fall througha central opening 35 to lower shelves and lower levels of the grill. Theopen ends of the shelves that are nearest the center of the housing arecovered by a screen 38, supported by a mesh grillwork 37, which preventsthe coals, ash and debris from failing into the food cooking area as thecoals burn and shift position. The charcoal may encircle the entireinside diameter of the housing or may cover selected portions of itsufficient to provide uniform heating.

Still referring to FIG. 1, the charcoal used for fuel is preferably heldin position by a mesh framework 37 positioned inside the housing withthe charcoal filling a space existing between the framework 37 and thehousing sidewalls 20, 24. The mesh framework 37 is sturdy enough tosupport a metal cap 39 that sits atop the framework 37 as well as thescreen 38. The metal cap 39 is removable to fill the grill withcharcoal. Flanges 41 fastened to the interior of the sidewalls supportthe edge of the metal cap 39 that abut the sidewalls and stops or limitsdownward motion of cap 39. Flange 41 may be welded to the sidewall orattached with a screw or other fastening device. Metal cap 39 andflanges 41 may have alignable openings for receiving pins to hold thecap, and thereby the framework, in position. A pin may be integrallyformed on one of the cap and flange to mate with an opening on the otherof the cap and flange to hold the two together. The weight of the metalcap 39 is sufficient to keep it properly positioned atop the meshframework 37 without any other fastening devices. A bib 43 of the metalcap 39 has an opening through which the top of the screens 38 protrudeto keep the screens 38 properly positioned against the charcoal. One ormore flanges 42 attached to the sidewalls or bottom of the housing helphold the charcoal containers in position. The flanges 42 on the bottomof the housing also keep the bottom of the screens properly positioned.

The shelves 36, screens 38 and mesh framework 37 define the fireboxesfor heating. The shelves 36 extend horizontally to divide the charcoalvertically into sections each of which can be used for heating,individually or collectively. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the shelves lineonly a portion of the sidewalls with a left section 38L and itsassociated framework extending from the bottom 16 of the grill housing.Such a left section may extend a full 360° around the sidewalls or anyportion of the sidewalls. It can extend along alternate portions of thesidewalls so that it extends a full 360° but in increments with spacesbetween increments. For example, uniform cooking can be achieved withcharcoal in four increments extending 45° with 45° spacing betweenincrements, or six increments of 30° with 30° spacing betweenincrements. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the right section 38R placescharcoal on the bottom of the housing to heat food from below. Food canthus receive heat from below, one side, all sides, or from both sidesand the bottom.

A cooking basket or rack 40 is positioned in the housing and may beremovably attached to the housing sidewalls or may be supported on legsthat rest on the bottom of the housing. The basket 40 may consist of asingle rack or may be a basket or may be a plurality of baskets or racksthat stack one atop the other.

Referring to FIG. 2, a gas grill has a left heating element 44 thatextends along the left sidewall 46 and along the left portion of thebottom 48 of the grill to heat food from the bottom and left side. Theheating element 44 has a flange 50 with an opening for receiving a bolt52 therethrough. A flange 54 is attached to the left sidewall 46 and hasan opening for receiving bolt 52 therethrough for fastening heatingelement 44 to the sidewall. While only one heating element is shownalong the left side, there may be a plurality of heating elements toextend around the inside perimeter of the housing. Similarly a rightheating element 56 extends along the right sidewall 58 and right portionof the bottom 48. It also has a flange 60 that cooperates with a flange62 to receive a bolt 64 to fasten the right heating element 56 to theright sidewall 58. The heating elements also have flanges or openings ontheir bottom ends for receiving a bolt 59 to connect with a nut 61fastened to a bottom flange fastened to the bottom of the grill.Alternately, the nut can be connected directly to the bottom of thegrill. Where there are multiple heating elements, each may have its ownbolt or several can be connected together along the bottom.

Gas for cooking is channeled through a conduit 68 from a gas supplycontainer 66 to a regulator 70 and then to the left gas burning heatingelement 44 via a left conduit 72, and to the right gas burning heatingelement 56 through a right conduit 74. The conduits are shown attachedto the vertical portion of the heating elements below the location ofthe rack which helps gas flow to all portions of the heating elements.The regulator 70 controls the flow of gas from the tank 66 to theburners 44 and 56 to control the cooking temperature and therefore thecooking time. The regulator 70 also controls the fuel/air mixture toaccommodate different fuel gases. A cooking rack 76 may be movablyattached to the interior housing sidewalls or may be suspended from theheating elements 44 and 56 on brackets or flanges 77 on the heatingelements. As illustrated, cooking rack 76 is a flat rack with a widesurface area but may be a cage or basket for holding items of food to becooked.

Referring to FIGS. 3-4, gas heating elements 80, 82 are verticallyoriented to provide heat from the sides. A basket 84 is mounted in thehousing and has a general "C" configuration. Food to be cooked is placedinside the "C" on the bottom portion, along the vertically inclined rearor on top of the rack at the top of the "C". The basket is connected bya pivotal connection 86 that allows the basket to be tilted toaccommodate foods of various shapes such as a whole chicken, turkey orroast. To ensure uniform cooking of such a large item, the basket can berotated about a pivot pin 88 on which the basket is mounted. Asillustrated, the basket can be rotated manually to ensure uniformcooking or may be rotated by means of a motor attachment (not shown).

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate a grill that is configured as an oven withheating elements 90, 92 positioned along the top and bottom of the oven,respectively. The cooking rack 94 is, of course, positioned between theheating elements 90, 92 much the same as for a conventional oven. Theremay be more than one rack as in a conventional oven and different foodscan be cooked at the same time by appropriately regulating the burnersso that the upper and lower racks are at different temperatures or sothat food on one rack absorbs more heat than food on the other rack. Theoven has a door 96 that can be mounted to swing open either verticallyor horizontally. It has a window 98 and the door handle has a lightassembly 100 incorporated to illuminate the oven interior to viewcooking progress. Preferably, the lighting assembly is detachable tofacilitate directing light to all corners of the oven. Alternatively,the lighting assembly is pivotally mounted to vary the incidence oflight in the oven.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are similar to FIGS. 5 and 6 in that the grill isconfigured as an oven, but the grill has heating elements 102, 104 thatheat not only from the top and bottom of the oven, but also heat fromthe rear of the oven as well. Providing heat from the rear isadvantageous when an odd shaped article of food is to be cooked becauseit ensures uniform and thorough cooking in the minimum amount of time.It is also equipped with a lighting assembly 106 for viewing the foodwithout opening the door. The lighting assembly is shown pivoted to theleft to a position to illuminate the oven.

FIG. 9 further illustrates a lighting assembly 108 on a door handle. Ithas a push-button 110 for operating the light. The lighting assembly canpivot to the left to illuminate the interior of the grill. Preferably,the lighting assembly detaches from the handle to focus light wheredesired.

It can now be appreciated that a grill has been presented that heatsfood from both sides to speed cooking time. Where it is desired to heatonly one surface of the food, the charcoal may be positioned in only aportion of the grill to accommodate such cooking or, in the case of agas grill, only one section of the heating elements may be fueled toprovide heating where it is desired. By providing a see-through cover,the cooking progress may be observed without losing heat, therebyminimizing cooking time.

While the invention has been described with particular reference to thepreferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the artthat various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted forelements of the preferred embodiments without departing from invention.For example, the cooking racks are intended to be interchangeable; thatis, a rack from one embodiment can be used in a different embodiment. Inaddition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situationand material to a teaching of the invention without departing from theessential teachings of the present invention.

As is evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of theinvention are not limited to the particular details of the examplesillustrated and it is therefore contemplated that other modificationsand applications will occur to those skilled in the art. For example, ahousehold gas supply can be used by adjusting the regulator for theparticular type of fuel. It is accordingly intended that the claimsshall cover all such modifications and applications as do not departfrom the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A grill, comprising:a housing having top andbottom walls, a rear wall, and left and right sidewalls; a top heatingelement extending along said top wall; a bottom heating elementextending along said bottom wall; a door opposite said rear wall havinga window; a handle on said door incorporating a lighting assembly, saidlighting assembly being detachable from said handle; and a gas regulatormounted on said housing below said door for regulating fuel to said topand bottom heating elements.
 2. A grill, as set forth in claim 1,including:a first conduit connecting said top heating element to saidgas regulator; and a second conduit connecting said bottom heatingelement to said gas regulator.